A review by Brooks Rich
Welcome to October. Every week we will be covering horror films all through the month. So if you're wondering what you should watch to get you in the spooky mood, well there should be something for everyone here this month. I'm starting off with a film I've wanted to cover since the inception of the blog but was saving it for October. I love ghost films and think Robert Wise's The Haunting from 1963 is still one of the scariest films ever made. But I want to go to 1980 and cover a criminally underrated ghost movie that is one of the creepiest films ever made. From director Peter Medak we have The Changeling.
George C. Scott, one of the greatest actors to ever live, plays John Russell, a composer who moves to New York from Seattle after the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter. He rents a large house from the historical society and begins to hears strange sounds at night. He initially thinks the ghost is that of his daughter but discovers the house is hiding a much darker secret.
This films works a lot like The Haunting and other ghost films like it. We virtually don't see anything. We hear things mostly and have a sense of dread when Scott is alone in the house. Medak knows not to throw every possible scare at the screen. That works sometimes to be sure but the creepiest horror movies know the power of dread. The best scare is not something jumping out and saying boo. It's the time before whatever it is jumps out and says boo.
Scott brings a lot of gravitas to this movie. He is so good as the grieving and tortured Russell and we feel his pain during the moments of grief he has on screen. If this wasn't a ghost film, it would be a powerful film on grief and moving on. Both stories mix together well, the pain he feels over his families death playing into the ghost story.
Be warned there is a flashback scene that some might find disturbing that explains some of the sounds Scott's character has been hearing. It's terrifying and tragic. The centerpiece scene is a seance that is actually scary twice. I don't want to say why but The Changeling might have the greatest seance in film history.
This film is a two dollar rental on Amazon right now and I highly recommend giving it a watch. It sometimes has issues with release as there's some problems with the rights so jump on this as soon as possible. This is a film for fans of quieter horror movies.
Welcome to October. Every week we will be covering horror films all through the month. So if you're wondering what you should watch to get you in the spooky mood, well there should be something for everyone here this month. I'm starting off with a film I've wanted to cover since the inception of the blog but was saving it for October. I love ghost films and think Robert Wise's The Haunting from 1963 is still one of the scariest films ever made. But I want to go to 1980 and cover a criminally underrated ghost movie that is one of the creepiest films ever made. From director Peter Medak we have The Changeling.
George C. Scott, one of the greatest actors to ever live, plays John Russell, a composer who moves to New York from Seattle after the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter. He rents a large house from the historical society and begins to hears strange sounds at night. He initially thinks the ghost is that of his daughter but discovers the house is hiding a much darker secret.
This films works a lot like The Haunting and other ghost films like it. We virtually don't see anything. We hear things mostly and have a sense of dread when Scott is alone in the house. Medak knows not to throw every possible scare at the screen. That works sometimes to be sure but the creepiest horror movies know the power of dread. The best scare is not something jumping out and saying boo. It's the time before whatever it is jumps out and says boo.
Scott brings a lot of gravitas to this movie. He is so good as the grieving and tortured Russell and we feel his pain during the moments of grief he has on screen. If this wasn't a ghost film, it would be a powerful film on grief and moving on. Both stories mix together well, the pain he feels over his families death playing into the ghost story.
Be warned there is a flashback scene that some might find disturbing that explains some of the sounds Scott's character has been hearing. It's terrifying and tragic. The centerpiece scene is a seance that is actually scary twice. I don't want to say why but The Changeling might have the greatest seance in film history.
This film is a two dollar rental on Amazon right now and I highly recommend giving it a watch. It sometimes has issues with release as there's some problems with the rights so jump on this as soon as possible. This is a film for fans of quieter horror movies.
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